Heinrich Adonis was down the road from the start of the Betty’s Bay fire and he witnessed who started it… he ran to the fire zone, working non-stop to extinguish it.
Heinrich Adonis was at ground zero of the Betty’s Bay fire. It was New Year’s Eve and he was walking back up to his house, that was when he saw a flare shoot up a few houses from where he was. It died out but then another went up just as a gust of wind blew past.
The flare was carried over to dry patch behind the houses and a small fire started.
Adonis is a volunteer firefighter so he ran into his house and quickly put on his gear, he then ran up the mountainside to try to extinguish the flames. As he was running up, the fire started to spread due to the wind picking up.
It all started in Mooiuitsig on the mountain slope in the Cape Nature reserve and Adonis worked hard to put it out but it was spreading out in a v-formation. Soon after the fire started, others joined him in trying to put it out without water.
“I run towards it because I know how fires operate and how to tackle them safely without water.”
It was because of his father that Adonis knew how to fight fires, he was taught from a young age. They chased the fire through the Nature Reserve for hours trying to stop it but the winds just wouldn’t relent.
Heinrich was really angry that his community didn’t come to help, he was even more infuriated that the man who started the fire didn’t come forward and that his family hid him when the police arrived.
Heinrich decided to do the right thing and gave the police a statement, pointing out the house where the flare came from. The police eventually made the arrest but the culprit has publicly stated that he will “kill the person who turned him in”.
Adonis has since faced threats of assault from the family but he refuses to back down.
“I’ve been told that the suspect is saying that he’s going kill anyone who told the cops that he started the fire,”
“I don’t give a sh*t. I’m not scared of him or anyone else in his family. What is wrong is wrong and what is right is right. That’s the way I was raised. I don’t see how a wrong can be right. This is why this country is in such a mess with all this corruption. People don’t want to stand up and do the right thing.”
Adonis had no idea just how bad the fire would become and says had he known, he would have stayed on the fire line until it stopped. He was exhausted by fighting it on the night it started, his legs had turned to jelly and his clothing had become drenched in sweat. Adonis has never turned his back on fire but this time, he had to.
The destruction was terrible, more than 14000 hectares from Betty’s Bay to Hermanus were destroyed along with 43 houses burning to the ground.
Adonis is the hero of this story… he put his life on the line to protect the people of Betty’s Bay and now he is making sure that the person responsible gets his day in court.
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